1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a method for the handling of containers using a rotary-type container handling machine with at least one rotor driven to rotate around a vertical machine axis, whereby the handling of the containers takes place on the rotor and the containers are transferred sequentially for this purpose at least one container inlet to the rotor and moved with said rotor over at least a partial length of a first track encircling the vertical machine axis and whereby the handled containers are removed from the rotor at least one container outlet, and a container handling machine of the rotary type for the handling of containers, having at least one rotor with container receptacles driven to rotate around a vertical machine axis, whereby the containers to be handled are sequentially transferred at least one container inlet to the container receptacles moved past said container inlet on a first track encircling the vertical machine axis and the containers are removed from the container receptacles at least one container outlet after handling.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
“Container” within the meaning of the present application refers in one possible embodiment to bottles, cans, tubes and other containers that are suitable and/or are used as packaging for a wide variety of products, for example for liquid and/or pasteous products.
“Handling” within the meaning of the present application refers to a wide variety of handling functions with containers, such as the cleaning of the containers with the handling machine configured as e.g. a rinser; the sterilization of the containers with the handling machine configured as a sterilizer; the filling of the containers with the handling machine configured as a filling machine; the labeling and/or printing of the containers with the machine configured as a labeling machine; the closing or sealing of the containers with the machine configured as a sealing machine, etc., but other types of handling are also plausible.
The machines used for the handling, and often the high-volume handling, of such packaging or containers are rotary-type handling machines, possibly machines with a rotor driven to rotate continuously or timed around a vertical machine axis, on which rotor the handling of the container takes place between a container inlet and a container outlet during the rotation of the rotor. Some handling machines have handling stations at the circumference of the rotor distributed in equal angular intervals around the vertical machine axis, which handling stations each include inter alia a container receptacle for holding a container and other functional elements specific to the type of handling. The containers are delivered to the respective handling station or container receptacle located there at the container inlet in the form of a starwheel, for example. At the container outlet, for example also in the form of a starwheel, the handled containers are removed from the individual container receptacles for further use or handling. The handling takes place in the rotational angle area of the rotor between the container inlet and the container outlet. For design reasons as well as due to the space required or desired for the delivery and removal of the containers, this angle area is less than three hundred sixty degrees and under optimal conditions is roughly three hundred thirty degrees.
At the high volumes required or desired for rotary-type handling machines, this restricted rotational angle area of the rotor available for handling results in extremely large rotor diameters to enable sufficient handling time at high volumes and thus at a high rotor speed. It is therefore not uncommon for higher volume filling machines to have rotor diameters on the scale of seven and a half meters.
To achieve a high volume (large number of processed containers per unit time) at reduced rotor speed, some container handling machines with which the handling stations on the rotor driven to rotate around the vertical machine axis are arranged in multiple, circular tracks encircling this machine axis at various radial distances from the machine axis. The containers are delivered as a multi-track container stream to the container inlet of the handling machine in such a manner that each track of the delivered container stream is assigned to one track on the rotor, i.e. that containers in each track of the delivered container stream move onto their own track on the rotor or onto a container receptacle rotating along this track. Analogously, the processed containers are removed from the tracks of the rotor at the container outlet and delivered as a multi-track container stream for further use or handling. The handling of each container again takes place between the container inlet and the container outlet in the rotation angle area of the rotor, which is less than three hundred sixty degrees. Although the simultaneous or substantially simultaneous handling of a plurality of containers on multiple tracks of the rotor represents an improvement over machines with which the container receptacles or the container handling stations are located on a single track at the circumference of the rotor, the multi-track delivery and removal of the containers requires or desires a complex and fault-prone design.